RUGER“SUPERBLACKHAWK”.44 MAGNUM

1959 - 1973

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This article is dedicated in memory of my
friend Lynn Laudise who helped educate me and found me a
lot of fine old Supers.

Ruger introduced their new “Super
Blackhawk” .44 Magnum single-action revolver in September
1959 and shipping began in November 1959.This was just three short years after introducing their“Blackhawk” .44
Magnum “Flattop” single action revolver.The Super’s catalog number was S47 and the introductory
retail price was $120.The
Super became an immediate hit with shooters, hunters, and
sportsmen.The
Super Blackhawk today, with its New Model safety bar
configuration that was introduced in 1974, continues to retain
its popularity.Well
over 600,000 of the new models have been sold to date.

The Super Blackhawk is marked on the left side
of the cylinder frame.:

RUGER SUPERBLACKHAWK

.44 MAGNUM CAL.

The Super Blackhawk was the first revolver to be
produced in Ruger’s new expanded facility in Southport,
Connecticut.It was
also the first Ruger revolver to have the trademark Eagle logo
included in the barrel address versus on the cylinder frame like found
on the earlier Single-Six
.22 caliber rimfire revolver and Blackhawk
.357 and .44 centerfire revolvers.

There were also several other changes or
improvements in the Super Blackhawk that set it apart from
Ruger’s original offering, the Blackhawk .44 Magnum
“Flattop”.

First, one noticed a considerable weight
difference in the two guns.The Super weighed in at 48 oz. versus 40 oz. for the
Blackhawk .44 Flattop.This
is attributed to the Super being fitted with a steel grip frame
and other beefed up parts.Protective rear sight ribs, or Ruger patented integral
sight ribs, were
added to the Super’s cylinder frame to help stabilize and
protect the MICRO marked rear sight when it was in
its raised position.The
Super’s steel grip
frame was a longer “Dragoon” style with a square
back trigger guard, where the Blackhawk utilized a smaller Colt
style black anodized aluminum alloy grip
frame, reference number XR3.Further, the Super featured a wide spur hammer, a wider
serrated trigger, and an unfluted cylinder.It also had astandard
7-1/2” barrel versus the standard 6-1/2” barrel on the .44
Blackhawk.

Varnished walnut grip panels with a Ruger
trademark black eagle on a silver medallion adorned the new
Super. Many of the early guns had beautiful dark burled finely
figured grippanels.

The Super’s extra mass and larger grip frame
helped to tame the heavy recoil of the hot .44 Magnum
cartridges.During
the development period in 1958, Bill
Ruger received and incorporated several refinements
suggested by Elmer Keith and Herb Glass.Mr. Glass told me personally that he suggested the
“Dragoon” style grip frame along with someother improvements.Elmer Keith also suggested that style grip frame.In Elmer Keith’s 2nd edition of his great
book, Sixguns, published in 1961, he says that he
recommended the old square-back second Dragoon grip with ample
length of grip and room behind the guard.Keith also asked for a Bisley style wide hammer spur,
wide grooved trigger, non-fluted cylinder, and larger ejector
thumb-piece.

Bill Ruger sent Elmer Keith the first prototype
Super Blackhawk to test.In
Sixguns, Elmer said that it had many of his
suggested improvements and that it accounted for four Elk with
clean kills that fall.He
had to return the prototype toRuger for further research and development at the
factory.Elmer then
received another prototype that had a slight change in the
length of the grip.He
said that it felt even better than the first gun.Elmer said that it was the finest single-action sixgun
that he had ever owned.

The early Super Blackhawks came with a beautiful
varnished genuine mahogany wooden case that was shipped in a
brown corrugated cardboard outer shipping carton, or bookwrap.The cardboard carton had an ink stamp on the end and/or side,
which read “S47 SUPER BLACKHAWK”, and it had the gun’s
serial number penciled on the side.The mahogany boxes themselves are not numbered to the
gun.The mahogany
boxes have a red cloth lined velveteen interior.The majority of the boxes have “GENUINE MAHOGANY”
embossed into the wood on the bottom.The inside of the box bottom has a mahogany insert with a
cutout in the shape of the gun with the barrel pointing to the
right.This
positionsthe gun with the serial number side up.A Ruger “Makers” label is pasted to the red material
inside the box’s top.The
boxes have two sliding brass latches on the front and two brass
hinges in the rear.A
few of the cases have latches and hinges that are nickel or
chrome plated.About
4,200 of these first guns were shipped in these cloth lined
mahogany cases.

The majority of the mahogany cased guns had the
same finish as the Blackhawk .44 “Flattops”, a satin blue or
Ruger acceptable finish.Collectors sometimes call this a “dull
polish” finish.Ruger changed to a “Super Polished and Blued”
finish in mid-1960.The
Super Polished mahogany cased guns will be observed in the 3XXX
to 6XXX range with some found up into the 8XXX range.These are fairly scarce when found in the mahogany cases.There are a few rare earlier exceptions to this range.This “SuperPolished”
finish would become the standard finish used through the
remainder of Old Model Super production and is seen on New
Models to this day.Some
of the guns made in the late 1960s/early 1970s were so superbly
polished that they were often mistaken for “refinished,
reblued polished-out guns” !!

Mahogany boxed Supers came in two grip
frame configurations.Most have what is known as the “standard size” while
about 300 were fitted with a grip frame that is 1/10” longer.These longer frames are rare and are known as “longframes” in collector’s circles. The
serial numbers of these guns are randomly mixed in the first two
to three thousand guns.There
is no way to validate their originality.The mahogany box interior cutout is 3/16” longer at the
bottom of the grip frame area to accommodate these guns. The
walnut grip panels for the long frames have a letter “C”
embossed on the inside to set them apart from the standard
profile.All that I
have ever seen and examined have the “C” located below the
screw hole and sometimes will appear to be upside down.Some are also very lightly stamped and can hardly be
noticed unless you are really looking for it.

The majority of these mahogany boxed guns had
the standard Super Blackhawk barrel address, which included the
trademark Ruger Eagle logo.However, some had the earlier Blackhawk “Flattop”
barrel address without the Eagle logo, thus these are
“Eagle-less” Supers and create a different marking variation
of interest for collectors.Combined, numbering approximately 300, the standard or
dull polished long frame and the high polished standard frame
“Eagle-less” mahogany boxed guns are regarded as rare.

The factory that made and furnished the mahogany
cases burned in 1960 and was not rebuilt.Ruger replaced the wooden cases with a special designed
white cardboard case with a hinged top.The price of the Super was dropped from $120 to $116 when
the white cardboard box was introduced.The white cases had a white cardboard insert with a cutout for the
gun similar to the mahogany cases. These cases had a slipcover
also made of white cardboard that had the serial number of the
gun penciled on the side.Both
the white cardboard case and the slipcover had the red Ruger
Eagle logo on top.These cases with slipcover were shipped in an outer brown
corrugated cardboard shipping carton. It was also numbered to
the gun in pencil on its side and had the “S47 SUPER
BLACKHAWK” stamped in ink on it.Since the “White Boxes” were made of cardboard, many
ended up being destroyed or just thrown away once they were
torn, damaged, and/or dirty.Thus the “White Box” Supers are quite rare and sought
after by collectors due to their rare packaging.The complete three-piece packaging for the White Box guns
is almost unique and is seldom seen.It is estimated that around 6,000 white-boxed guns were
shipped.These are
normally found in the 5xxx to 10xxx range and are known as high
as the 115XX range.

The white-boxed guns all had the super polished
or high polish finish.Again,
like the mahogany boxed guns, the majority had the eagle logo on
the barrel.However,
it is estimated that approximately 400 guns in the early 10xxx
range were marked with the Blackhawk barrel address, without the
trademark Eagle logo, making them a rare marking variation.

Also it is worth mentioning that, after the
white cases were put into use, the factory retained a limited
supply of mahogany cases that could be ordered as an accessory.I am not sure how many they had or how long they were
available.I
have seen some fairly high serial numbered guns in these boxes,
and the original owners have said the guns came in them.

Next came the Supers in the black and red
two-piece or telescope boxes with a brown corrugated
cardboard outer shipping carton. This packaging begins to show
up in early 1962, normally in the 10xxx range and beyond.Both the box and the outer shipping carton were numbered
to the gun.This
became the standard packaging for the remainder of the Old Model
Super production.

Beginning June 1962 through August 1963 Ruger
made several design changes and subtle part modifications that
affected all of their single action revolvers.This is often referred to as “The Changes of
1962”.The
changes made to the Super Blackhawk created three “Transition”
variations for Super collectors to pursue.

One of the changes had to do with the size of
the serial number character.Up until late 1963 all Ruger firearms had 1/16” size
serial number characters.They
were changed to a larger 3/32” size number after October 1963.Other “Changes of ‘62” included the phased
in use of an aluminum alloy ejector rod housing versus the
earlier steel housing and an unmarked aluminum alloy rear sight
versus the earlier steel MICRO marked sight.During the transition to the larger size serial number
and alloy parts, any combination of these parts could be found
on the guns with the smaller 1/16” serial numbers since the
guns are not necessarily assembled in sequence. No parts were
wasted, thus combinations of steel/aluminum, aluminum/steel, or
aluminum/aluminum parts on the 1/16” numbered guns resulted in
three “Transition” models with some being very rare.

Another rare variation is the Super Blackhawk
S47 with a factory installed 6-1/2” barrel.It is said that an employee mistakenly thought that he
was cutting 6-1/2” .41 Magnum barrels and cutabout six hundred .44 Magnum barrels before he realized
it. These 6-1/2” Supers were shipped out to distributors.Many collectors refer to this variation as a “S46”.However, they will “factory letter” as a “S47 with
a 6-1/2” barrel”.The
standard Super Blackhawk, S47,7-1/2” box was used to ship these guns.The 7-1/2” on the box end label was sometimes marked
out with a black magic marker or a small sticker with 6-1/2”
put over the number.A
factory letter is a must to validate this rare barrel length.

Brass “Dragoon” style grip
frames with the square back trigger guards for the Super
Blackhawk were delivered to Ruger in the Spring of 1964.Supers with brass grip frames, model S47-B, were first
offered for sale in the 1966 catalog.Non-prefix serial numbered Supers that will factory
letter with a factory installed brass grip frame are very rare
and highly sought after by collectors.These grip frames could also be ordered as an accessory
for $20.They came
with a Super Blackhawk wide serrated trigger to fit in the wide
trigger slot found on the brass frames.These brass grip frames could be fitted not only to the
Super Blackhawk but the earlier .357 and .44 Blackhawks and the
Single-Six as well.The
proper size Super Blackhawk grip panels could also be ordered at
an additional cost.

These “Dragoon” style brass frames were
later offered as an option on other Blackhawk models and the
black powder Old Army.On
one day only, in early 1968, just over 100 Supers were fitted
with a brass grip frame and are found serial numbered in the
33XXX – 36XXX range.A
small quantity of the 6-1/2” barreled guns are known to have
been fitted with a brass frame.During the last months of 1972, as Old Model production
was coming to an end, just over 1500 Super Blackhawks were
fitted with brass grip frames.The brass frames were utilized to get rid of existing
inventory; the frames would not fit the New Model guns and there
would be no market for them later.They were installed on the Supers and, because there was
no price differential, the shipping invoice did not indicate a
brass grip frame.The bulk of these will not “factory letter” since there
was no extra charge noted on the invoice.

Notwithstanding, a new 800 page book has been
drafted and is scheduled to be published in 2007 specifically
addressing the collecting of classic Ruger tools, pistols and
revolvers and, among other things, will list the factory
installed brass grip frame Super Blackhawk serial numbers.The book, entitled For WBR is being written
by my friend John Dougan, President of the Ruger
Collectors Association, collector, researcher and author of
several other fine books on Ruger collecting.Through an exhaustive search through factory archives,
John has identified the elusive and previously unknown factory
installed brass framed Super Blackhawks.I am certainly looking forward to getting my hands on
this new book of knowledge.

When the Gun Control Act of 1968 was passed,
each firearm produced by a company had to have its own unique
serial number.Thus
no longer could Ruger make a Single-Six .22 Caliber, a Blackhawk
.357 Magnum, and a Super Blackhawk .44 Magnum with the same
serial number.Ruger’s answer to this new law was to add a prefix to each
serial number.The
number “80” was chosen as the Super Blackhawk’s prefix.Beginning in 1969 all Supers had an “80” prefix added
to their serial number.There
were about 41,000 non-prefix Supers and about 65,000 “80”
prefixed Supers made.As an example, the prefix serial number looks like
“80-12345”.

There are about 800 or so “Duplicate” serial
numbered guns known that have a “D” in front of the serial
number.This means
that another gun was made with the same number, and when the
error was discovered a “D” was put on one of the duplicate
numbered guns to make its serial number unique.It appears that all “D” Supers known are “80”
prefix guns and they arecertainly
scarce guns.

About mid-1971 the black eagle grip medallions
were changed to a flat silver Eagle. This medallion is sometimes called the “Squashed
Chicken” by collectors.

There are over 25 different variations of the
old three screw Super Blackhawk with several variations being
very unique andextremely
rare.For example,
there were only three Supers made with a 10” barrel.A friend of mine owns one of the three and a picture of
it is included with this article.There are only three or four “seconds” guns known
that were either blemished in some way or more than likely used
as NRA show guns, etc., then resold and marked with an “S”.Another friend of mine owns two of those and we’ll
picture those as well.There were only two Supers that were factory
engraved--one went to Elmer Keith and the other was kept in the
factory collection.

There is one known factory lettered S47 with a
6-1/2” barrel and a brass frame.There is a Super known that is roll marked “Blackhawk .41
Magnum” and a few with the original “Blackhawk .44 Magnum”
roll marked on the cylinder frame.There are two known 6-1/2” barrel “S” marked guns
and one will be pictured here.There was at least one experimental Super chambered for
the .256 Winchester magnum cartridge.There are other small and/or odd variations that prove
for interesting discussions among collectors trying to capture
ever one of them for their collections.

Major production of the Old Model Super
Blackhawk ceased in February 1973.All total, about 106,460 Old Model Super Blackhawks in
all aforementioned configurations were shipped from 1959 –
1973.The number
alone testifies to it popularity.

The Ruger Super Blackhawk was my first true
collector focus.

I have owned, shot and collected various Ruger
handguns since I was a young man but my first true “hunt all
the variations fever” came as a result of the many Super
variations.They
just drove me crazy, I really had fun and enjoyed the search and
pursuit of these great revolvers!!

I certainly welcome any comments and any new
information that may help us in our collecting of these fine
guns.

As always, if you happen to have a nice old
early Super tucked away, or any other Old Model for that matter,
shoot me an e-mail
- I just may take that old gun off your
hands !!